Scott

Tough Guy

5 foot, 8 inch Italian

Shot 8 times, stabbed too many

Slick hair

His right eye flickers

     from a gunshot wound

The scars point out

     entries and exits of bullets

Bulging veins cover his arms

He is off the Thorazine and doesn’t do the scuffle

He is on new medication,

     medication that could put 8 horses to sleep

His huge appetite consumes all the hospital food

He brushed his teeth until his gums bled

A rough life

Lost his father at a young age,

     supported his mother and sister,

     and grew up in a world of drugs

     and destroyed his life

A delivery man and a lumberjack,

a seller and a buyer

He cared and understood

He’s changing his life now,

I made him laugh,

and he helped me understand.

He helped me, and I helped him

A stranger, then a friend, and now a memory

He was Guy Scott

I called him Scott

He respects life now and has changed

He was Guy Scott, a friend, a gift from God.

© 1992 David Greg Harth

92.05.03.22:00:00@NewCityNY